Standing on the Gates of Hell
by Captain Maximum Storm
Summary: They say the resistance leaders are made up by an Albatross, a wolf dog, a snake, and a dog. They didn't know they were right. Slight crossover with His Dark Materials, contains Daemons and OCs. Kind of AU.
1. Chapter 1

Standing on the Gates of Hell

"_He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death. He had lessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs of the police and mail, and knew there was no middle course. He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed." _

― _**Jack London, The Call of the Wild**_

Sef settles on the night Doom finds them. Tess and Oliver are huddled together behind her, daemons hiding in pockets or around their necks. Sef is growling beside her as an arctic wolf, teeth bared. They'll die before the Grey Guards take her siblings, and should that be the case, they'll go down fighting.

Grey Guards don't have daemons. That means they're not human, and so they're okay to kill. She and Sef tear through the guards. The wolf pack dared not to interfere, knowing full well what fate will befall them if they do.

One girl against an army of Grey Guards is not a fair fight. She is growing tired, and she knows she will not survive.

"Tess, Ollie! Run to the pack! They'll protect you!" She slices another Grey Guard in half, sending him to his doom.

"Jonah! Don't leave us." Tess begs. Jonah nods to Sef, who runs back to the duo.

"Little one, we will never be truly gone." Sef licked the 9 year olds cheek. "But for now we must leave, for your sake. Ginny and Marcus will look after you. They are forever in the Pandora family's debt. They will protect you." Sef then turned, sifting into a bigger, much more powerful form. A wolf dog.

Jonah was growing tired. Each swing was harder than the last, the blade growing heavier in her hands. Sef's fangs rip and tear, but he was growing weak. His legs trembled and his sight blurred.

Jonah fell to her knees in exhaustion. She could fight no more.

"So the kid can't fight anymore. Pity, you could've been a great fighter in the shadow arena. But our orders are to kill you, so you'll have to die." The Grey Guard lifted his sword and Jonah closed her eyes, prepared for the end.

"Kid, on the count of three, run for the bushes." A quiet voice whispered. Jonah opened her eyes.

"Three!" A different voice yelled, and Jonah scrambled to her feet, bolting into the brush. Sef dashed for the trees, burrowing under the roots. Jonah crawled to him.

A shadow fell upon them. "Get up, kid. They'll be distracted, but not for long." Jonah looked up.

The man was tall, and had a scar on the side of his face. A large white bird was perched on the branch above him. He held out a hand and Jonah grabbed it, standing on shaking legs. She leaned against him, and he half carried her to where she and her siblings once played.

"Jonah!" Oliver and Tess said in unison, daemons untwisting from necks and jumping from pockets to greet Sef. The wolf dog let out a quiet ruff, then winced. "Thank you, sir. Jonah would've been killed back there had you not saved her." Oliver said quietly. "We need to go to the house. My supplies are there."

The man nodded and lifted Jonah. Kanda shifted into a bear and carried Sef on his back.

The garden around the house had grown wild. Built in the middle of the forest, camouflaged by the overgrown garden, the house could only be found by the trained eye. Their father had been a paranoid man by nature, and thus surrounded himself and his family in complete solitude. Since the path hadn't been used in 8 long years, it had been forgotten. And so, the Grey Guards would never find it.

Oliver opened the door and bid them inside.

Soon a fire was built and Jonah's wounds were bandaged and covered in ointments. With a little struggle, Jonah had been able to walk around. Sef limped beside her, lying in front of the fire.

"Thank you, sir." Jonah had said. "What's your name, if I might ask?"

The man looked at each of them with weary eyes. "My name is Doom. This-"He pointed at the albatross perched on the back of his chair, "-Is Deirdre."

Jonah nodded. "I'm Jonah. These are my siblings Oliver and Tess. My daemon's name is Sef, Ollie's is Jada, and Tess's is Kanda." Jonah looked at Deirdre and tilted her head. "What an interesting daemon."

Doom stared. Then his eyes narrowed. "How so?" He asked, raising a hand to stroke Deirdre.

"Well, she's an albatross." Oliver interjected "It symbolizes weakness."

Jonah scowled at her younger brother. "The way I remember it, the albatross brought those sailors some good luck before some idiot shot it." She pointed out, and then turned to Doom. "However, he is right. Albatrosses usually symbolize a psychological burden or a curse. However, to sailors, its good luck to see an albatross and shooting one down is considered to bring extreme bad luck."

Doom nodded. "So I wonder what your curse is." Tess said. Oliver and Jonah exchanged looks, then Oliver looked at Doom.

"Tess, that is rude. It is none of our business." He said.

The younger child crossed her arms. "What? I was only stating what we all were thinking. Last time I checked that wasn't a crime."

Jonah sighed and knelt down to the 9 year olds level. "I know, little one, but some things are better left unsaid."

Doom looked at all three siblings. The eldest being Jonah at 16-17, then Oliver at 12 and last Tess at 9. They obviously had no mother, else wise she'd be cooking dinner instead of Oliver, and if they had a father then Doom probably would've never needed to save them.

He looked at Deirdre. The bird nodded and he turned to the bickering siblings. "I suppose you all owe me a favor for saving Jonah. I do not ask for much, and I think it'd help you more than it'd help me."

"Go on." Sef said, sitting up.

"I've been forming a group of people to form a resistance against the Shadow Lord. I've seen how you fight, Jonah. You're quite skilled. And Oliver, I could use a lot more healers like you."

"What about me?" Tess asked, crossing her arms. Kanda shifted from ferret to bear cub and let out a sound of distaste.

"I am not sure. I'll find you something to do." Tess did not looked pleased with this answer, but remained quiet anyway.

Jonah stood. "My siblings and I need to discuss this, we'll be outside."

"Sure. I take it it'll have to be a long discussion."

"Probably. Make yourself comfortable." And with that Jonah followed her younger brother and sister into the darkness outside.

Doom looked around the room. It was a little too small for his comfort, but it was enough. There was a bed in the corner, but it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. The table he sat at was old and worn. In some places, the blood from years of stitching, treating, and dressing wounds could not come out of the wood. All three had carved their names into the wood, like they were marking their territory.

The door opened and closed. "We have agreed to come with you."

* * *

_A/N-This is probably the most I have written. EVER._

_I'm back from my semi hiatus, though wether or not it's permant is up to discussion._

**Names-Forms-Meanings**

Deirdre-Albatross-As explained in the story, Albatrosses are usually not good things. Deirdre is an Irish name meaning "Wanderer"

Sef-Wolf Dog-There's a reason why the quote's from Call of the Wild. Wolf dogs are, in my opinion, more dangerous than ordinary wolves. More often than not, they're _bigger_ than wolves, but I wanted to keep a tame element within Sef. Wolf dogs are a balence between wild and tame. In Egyptian Mythology, Sef was one of the two lions make up the Akeru, guardian of the gates of morning and night and means "yesterday".

Jada- A type of snake-Snakes used to be assoicated with wisedom and medicine. Snakes are unlikey to fight unless prevoked, and can go (in some cases) _months _without food. Jada is a Hebrew name for "wise".

Kanda-Some sort of hard to train dog-Tess is stubborn and tempermental, unlike the level headed Jonah. Kanda is a Native American name meaning "Magical Power" and is actually a girl's name, though the Kanda in our story is a guy.

_**Please leave a review for the story, or if you have any suggestions for character's daemons.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Standing on the Gates of Hell

"_Find though she may be little, she is fierce."-__**Shakespeare**_

Doom and Jonah's first mission was not without fault. In fact, though then they would not admit it, it was the "Little One" who saved them.

It had been a chilly morning near the ever looming Dread Mountain when the two decided to set off. Doom, as usual, was quiet. The man was of little words, but the ones he spoke were important.

"Little one, you must not go." Oliver was holding back a whining Tess. While she did not cry nor shout, her anger presented itself into a tantrum. Kanda shifted from hissing cat to growling bear to snarling wolf pup, but Sef merely picked him up by the scruff and shook him lightly.

"My word is final, Tess. The Answer is still no. It is much too dangerous." Jonah had said.

"I am not a baby anymore Jonah." Tess hissed. "I can fight, and so can Oliver. So why can't we go?"

"Oliver chose not to go, Tess." Doom softly said. All eyes looked to him in shock. "He is a medic, not a soldier. Which is why you need to guard him and our supplies."

This seemed to calm Tess down a bit. Doom continued "Once we have more members, you can come along. But for now, you must stay." Then, on second thought, Doom looked to the trees. A bird of many shades of gray sat in a tree nearby. "You see that bird?"

Tess nodded. "That is a Mockingbird. They can repeat the sounds of other creatures. If you hear this-"Doom made a four-note whistle "-Then we need your help."

Tess smiled broadly. "Okay, Doom."

* * *

Once they were out of earshot, Jonah spoke. "You do realize how hopeless she is in a fight, right? She is far too scrawny, far too small to take on a Gray Guard on her own."

Sef rumbled in agreement. Deirdre shook her head. "You see, that is where you are mistaken. She is much stronger than you realize, Jonah, but you are holding her back. A bird cannot fly is it stays in the nest, you know."

Jonah shrunk slightly. "I know, Dre, but I have already lost mother and father. I do not want to lose the child I practically raised from birth either."

"You never did tell how you lost your parents."

Jonah looked at the albatross in surprise. "I didn't? Well, I suppose you never asked." She looked longingly at the sky, not yet the dark grayish-red color of the Shadow Lands that bled over Dread Mountain's peak.

"It was 6 years ago when my father died…"

* * *

Father was the captain of the Palace Guards, and one of the most powerful men there. He, unlike most guards, did not live in the palace. He lived in the forests below, sneaking food to the best of his abilities to those who were less fortunate in Del.

It disgusted him how such a trick could be pulled on the poor Royal Family, but he kept his mouth shut. He had a family to raise, and they would suffer if he spoke a word about the illusion.

Agnes had been the one to see it first. "Ak-Baba." The jaguar hissed.

Father had looked above, and sure enough, Ak-Baba circled the high tower.

Jonah, only 10 years-old at the time, could only imagine what trouble that could cause. Like most children, she had heard the many tales of the Shadow Lord and his many minions. Ak-Baba were much scarier in real-life, even from a distance. Sef curled himself tight in her arms as a fluffy street cat, her face buried in his fur.

Father had come to her room in his armor, sword drawn and ready. He hugged her close. "My little Joan." He had said. Agnes nuzzled Sef. "You must remember that I have always loved you and that I will always protect you."

With that, father left, never to be seen again.

* * *

"…It would only be later that I would find out that he, among his men, died in the palace that night."

Jonah swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Knowing that only she remembered father hurt more than anyone could know.

Deirdre looked at her with curious eyes. "And what of your mother?"

Jonah sighed. "There is not much to tell, really. She often went without food so my siblings and I could eat. So when she got sick, she was not strong enough to fight. Oliver didn't come out of his room for days except for meals and he did not eat much."

"So that is why he is so impassive about death?" Dre asked.

"Mm-hm" Jonah hummed.

They walked in silence, left to each other's thoughts.

* * *

It's funny that it's always the thing you least expect attacks you. Well, it's funny in hindsight anyways.

Jonah dodged the Vraal's tail as it turned around, focusing on Doom.

Vraals are nasty creatures. They had no eyes that one could see. They had rows and rows of teeth and where the hole for the throat should be was an angry eye. Their skin was tough, grayish-blue and had spiky armor of a green-grey shade. They were bred to fight and kill and nothing else. They come from the Shadow Arena on the other side of the mountain.

Doom looked furious. He attacked the monster with all his might, like he had a score to settle.

_Note to self_ thought Jonah _Ask 'bout that later_.

Sef lunged at the Vraal, and narrowly dodged its jaws.

Jonah attacked from behind, ready to strike-

_***Thwack! Crunch!***_

The vraal's tail hit her square in the stomach, sending her flying into a tree. The tree's trunk (and a bone or two) broke with a sickening _***crack***_.

Jonah lay there, having no will to get up (or the strength and perhaps the ability as well). To her horror, Doom was pinned down by the Vraal. Then something happened. Something she thought wouldn't happen.

An arrow hit the Vraal's claws. Jonah followed it path with her eyes.

Perched in a nearby tree was Deirdre, Kanda (as a hawk), and Tess. In Tess's hands was a bow and arrow, drawn like a true champion.

"Hey! Ugly! I'm up here!"

The Vraal looked up and roared. That was mistake.

Because in that very instant, an arrow found itself lodged in the vile creature's eye.

* * *

What happened next was a bit of a blur. People moving, shouting. Light and Darkness. This went on for hours until Jonah finally woke up.

Her back and shoulders felt like someone burned them, then froze them, then hit them with a piece of wood. One out of three actually happened, and that would be putting it lightly.

Jonah sat up. Oliver looked at her. "You're awake. Good. Tess's been bothering me."

She smiled a little bit, then shakily stood. "They're eating right now. There's food out for you." Jada said from Oliver's neck.

Jonah staggered over to the fire. Tess smiled widely at her and Doom nodded.

_Questions could be asked later_, she thought, _for now, we eat._

* * *

**A/N-**I did most of this in one _very_ eventful night, so, you're welcome.

Please,read and review!


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